Package arbor



V. TATA Aug. 1, 1967 PACKAGE ARBOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 22, 1965 INVENTOR.

FIG?) ATTORNEYS g 1957 R. v. TATA 3,333,781

PACKAGE ARBOR Filed Oct. 22, 1965 '2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. RAYMOND TATA ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,333,781 PACKAGE ARBOR Raymond V. Tata, Warwick, R.I., assignor to Leesona Corporation, Warwick, RL, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Oct. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 501,799 8 Claims. (Cl. 24218.1)

The present invention relates generally to textile winding machines, and particularly to a novel package arbor whose unique construction imparts an unusual motion to a package supported thereon.

In the following specification and claims the term yarn is employed in a general sense to apply to all kinds of strand material either textile or otherwise, and the designation package is intended to mean the product of a winding machine whatever its form.

The invention herein includes means for breaking ribbons, i.e., it operates to control the disposition of the windings of yarn on the surface of the package to prevent the formation of bands or ribbons in which the yarn coils are crowded together or piled. Ribbons have long been a problem in the textile industry and many attempts have been made previously to control or arrest the problem. Ribbons are formed as the result of the synchronism which exists between the rotating package and the traverse of the yarn thereon. In order to prevent ribbons, it is necessary to disrupt this synchronism.

The invention disclosed herein is an improvement over ribbon breakers of prior art in that it is of simplified construction, provides for simplified operation and maintenance, and embodies other features which will be apparent from the following description.

The novel package arbor disclosed herein is also adapted to prevent the formation of knuckles or hard portions of yarn which tend to form at the ends of the package by the strands piling up on each other. This piling of yarn produces a package with hard ends or in other words portions of greater density than the intermediate portions of the package. Together with the afore-mentioned ribboning effect, dense ends or knuckles are particularly undesirable in the production of a dye package since the variation in density, whether from ribboning or from the formation of knuckles, results in unequal dye penetration into the package.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a novel package arbor for rotating a package of yarn thereon.

Another object of the present invention is to provide mechanism enclosed within the arbor for imparting a rocking motion to a conical package supported on the arbor as the package is driven from a traverse roll to cause the package to engage the traverse roll first With its larger end and then with its smaller end to vary the speed of rotation of the package;

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved ribbon breaking device which is applicable to existing winding machinery;

A further object is to provide a novel package arbor adapted to be driven by engagement with a rotating traverse roll and having eccentric planetary gearing within its housing for imparting a rocking motion to a cone on the arbor relative to the traverse roll.

Still another object is the provision of a novel package arbor which serves to produce soft end packages for use in dyeing.

Other and further objects will become apparent upon a reading of the description which follows taken together with the drawings which set forth a preferred form of construction of the device.

3,333,781 Patented Aug. 1, 1967 In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing generally, in outline, the unique package arbor disclosed herein;

FIG. 2 is a sectional side elevation view of the package arbor mounting a package receiving cone thereon;

FIG. 3 is a detailed perspective view of the planetary gearing and associated elements located within the confines of the package arbor housing;

FIG. 4 is a view in section of the eccentric sun gear employed in the mechanism of the arbor;

FIG. 5 is an end elevation view of the eccentric sun gear of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic showing of a cylindrical traverse roll driving a package supported on an arbor of the type described herein;

FIG. 7 is a schematic showing similar to that of FIG. 6, but wherein the traverse roll is barrel shaped;

FIG. 8 is a schematic showing of a drive mechanism for a traverse roll operable to drive a package employing the eccentric spindle of this invention; and

FIG. 9 illustrates an exaggerated configuration of a yarn package wound in accordance with the apparatus of FIG. 7.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts throughout, numeral 10 in FIG. 1 is the designation applied to the eccentric, ribbon breaking, soft end producing package arbor disclosed herein. In FIG. 2, package arbor 10 is shown in engagement with package receiving cone 12. Support arm 14 is pivotally borne as by hole 16 which receives a pin or bolt (not illustrated) therethrough in a customary manner connecting it to other sections of a conventional winding machine 18 illustrated schematically in FIG. 8. As shown, the support arm 14 allows the arbor and associated package receiving cone 12 to rest in peripheral contact or engagement with traverse 20.

With continuing reference to FIG. 8, the winding machine 18 is seen to include a base plate 22 supported on pedestal 24, and a pair of brackets 26 and 28 upstanding from the base plate. Traverse roll shaft 30 is received for rotation in suitable bearings (not shown) in brackets 26 and 28 in the usual manner and is driven by motor 32 acting through pulleys 34, 36, and belt 38.

Returning again to FIG. 2, support arm 14 which is connected to further instrumentalities on the winding machine, is seen to extend deep Within the confines of package arbor 10 where it terminates adjacent ball bearing 40. As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3 the section of the arm interiorly of arbor 10 is formed as a fixed cylindrical shaft 41 receiving on its forward end Allen head screw 42, which through suitable washers 44 and 46 and ball bearing 40 urges spacer forward to hold sun gears 68 and 72 in position. The cup-shaped retainer 48 received on the shaft 41 is positioned adjacent and bears against the widened portion 50 of support arm 14.

The outer housing or cone receiving member of arbor 10 is indicated at 58. The forward end of said outer housing is threaded at 60 to receive thereon nose element 62. Fastened to outer housing 58 as by a plurality of screws, one of which is shown at 64, is retainer 66 on which large spring washers 54 and 56 are slidingly received. In a conventional manner by means not shown, when package arbor 10 is in packing dofiing position, the outstanding edge 52 of retainer cup 48 is forced into engagement with spring washer 54, in turn engaging washer 56. The washers are thus bowed such that their respective diameters are decreased by an amount sufficient to permit the fully wound packages to be dotted and a new packagereceiving cone to be intimately received on outer housing 58. When the arbor 10 is thereupon shifted to the yarn Winding position, retainer cup 48 moves out of engagement from washer 54 whereupon washers 54 and 56 return to their unsprung altitude, their serrated edges gripping firmly the inside surface of cone 12.

Adjacent retainer 66, eccentric sun gear 68 is received on shaft 41 and journaled for rotation relative thereto. On collar 70 of eccentric gear 68, fixed sun gear 72 is pinned (reference numeral 74) to arm 14, see FIG. 3. A compression spring 76, also located on shaft 41, bears against retainer ring 78 fixed to shaft 41 as in a groove formed therein and urges retainer cup 48 into engagement with shoulder 50 of support arm 14. Sleeve 80 is received on shaft 41 and engages the inner race of bearing 40 at one end and engages collar portion 82 of eccentric sun gear 68 adjacent the other end thereof. Collar portion 82 of eccentric sun gear 68 is seen to receive thereon ball bearings 84 which also engage housing 58 to permit relative rotation between the housing and the eccentric sun gear, the outer races of bearings 40 and 84 being separated as by spacer member 86.

Extending between and rotatably mounted on housing 58 and retainer 66 is an integral pair of planet gears 88 and 90 which mesh respectively with sun gears 68 and 72.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are detail views of the eccentric sun gear 68. In FIG. 4, line S designates the center line of the shaft 41 while line B designates the center line of the eccentric sun gear. Thus, it will be seen that as the housing 58 is rotated about fixed shaft 41, planet gear 90, in engagement with fixed sun gear 72, is rotated therewith. Planet gear 88, integral with gear 90, drives eccentric sun gear 68 thereby imparting a slow eccentric rotation to the arbor through planet gears 88, 90 and retainer 66 and housing 58 in which the gears are rotatably mounted. In other words, line E (FIG. 4) will revolve slowly about line S thereby to develop a cone with an apex at point X and a central axis defined by line S. In one embodiment, fixed sun gear 72 has 39 teeth, eccentric sun gear 68 has 25 teeth, and planet gears 88 and 90 have 16 and 25 teeth respectively. By applying well known principles of planetary gear mechanics to this instance it will be seen that the arbor 10 will make one eccentric revolution for each 625 rotations of housing 58. Of course, it is understood that the above-noted embodiment calling out specific numbers of teeth for the various gears is only for purposes of example and is in no Way limiting of this invention. Numerous other combinations of gearing and gear teeth thereon will also provide desirable results.

FIG. 6 is illustrative of the motion of package 100 and its associated arbor with respect to traverse roll. 20. In the embodiment illustrated, the traverse roll drives the cone-shaped package, the latter by virtue of its weight maintaining a line of contact with the entire length of the formerthroughout the heel-to-toe motion of the package arbor and cone-shaped package thereon, this phenomenon being permitted by the resiliency of the yarn wound on the package receiving cone. However, while the package continually maintains a line of contact with traverse roll 20, there is in any given instant but one pressure point at which the traverse roll imparts rotation to said package. Further, by reason of the fact of the heel-to-toe motion of the package arbor and its associated package, the above-mentioned pressure point is continuously changing, moving along the line of contact between elements 12 and 20. The changing drive point results in a variation of speed because of the conical shape of the package-receiving cone and it is this continuous speed change which results in the effectiveness of this cone holder as a ribbon breaker. Furthermore, the particular arbor disclosed herein with its enclosed mechanism for providing the rocking motion, is far superior to earlier designs by reason of its compactness, simplicity of design, and ease of adaptation to existing winding machines. It is merely necessary to remove the spindle currently in use, replacing it with the novel spindle disclosed herein and fastening it in the customary manner by means of support arm 14 and associated hole 16.

As an added feature of the invention, it has been found that the combination of a package supported by the novel arbor disclosed herein and driven by a barrel-shaped traverse roll 2011, as shown in FIG. 7, not only serves to prevent the formation of ribbons, but has been found to permit the winding of a package which is particularly suitable for dyeing, that is, such that the hardness of the wind must not be excessive and should be reasonably constant across the surface of the packagefrom one end to the other. It will be appreciated that if one portion of the package is more tightly wound than another, the former portion will not be as susceptible to the effect of the dye as the latter thereby causing an undesirable variation of color in the yarn. The barrel traverse roll 20a drives the package 12 at a continuously varying point along the surface thereof and not primarily on the ends as in the instance of the cylindrical traverse roll. Thus, the ends of the package are not continuously borne down upon so as to cause packed and hardened regions on the package. In FIG. 9, a conical package 92, greatly exaggerated in shape, is shown which has been wound adjacent a barrel traverse roll as, for example, 20a. It will be noted that the ends as indicated by numerals 94 and 96 are more pointed than conventional package, so as to provide additional space for the yarn to occupy, thereby maintaining a constant pressure throughout the yarn package and permitting a softer package than one wound on a cylindrical traverse roll.

Accordingly, there has been described herein a unique package arbor of compact and simplified design which imparts a slight rocking motion to the package of yarn being wound whereby the rotational speed thereof is continuously altered. Employing a self-contained planetary gear mechanism, the cone holder is effective as a ribbon breaker while providing soft-end packages suitable for dyeing by maintaining a substantially constant pressure on the package and tension in the yarn throughout the winding operation.

While certain embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described herein, it is not intended that the invention be limited thereto, but that changes and modifications may be made and incorporated in the various methods and products Within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A package arbor for supporting a core adapted to have yarn wound thereon comprising, a support member arranged to receive said core, a fixed shaft, bearing means for mounting said support member on said shaft for rotation, and means operable in response to rotation of said support member for rocking said member eccentrically relative to said shaft.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means for rocking said support member includes a planetary gear mechanism.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said support member is centerless and planetary gear mechanism is housed within said support member.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said planetary gear mechanism includes a first sun gear fixed to said shaft, a second sun gear supported on said shaft for rotation relative to said first sun gear, a first planet gear engaging said first sun gear, and a second planet gear engaging said second sun gear, said first and second planet gears being rotatably supported in said support member.

5. In combination with a textile winding machine, a rotatable yarn traverse roll, means for driving said traverse roll, a fixed shaft, an arm for mounting said shaft adjacent to said traverse roll, a support member rotatably mounted on said shaft, said support member being arranged to receive a core therein and dispose said core in peripheral contact with said traverse roll, said traverse roll when rotating being operable to drive said support 5 member to rotate said core, and means operable in response to rotation of said support member for rocking said member eccentrically relative to said shaft.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5 wherein said means for rocking said support member includes a planetary gear mechanism.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said support member is centerless and planetary gear mechanism is housed Within said support member.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said planetary gear mechanism includes a first sun gear fixed to said shaft, a second sun gear supported on said shaft for rotation relative to said first sun gear, a first planet gear engaging said first sun gear, and a second planet gear engaging said second sun gear, said first and second planet gears being rotatably supported in said support member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner.

N. L. MINTZ, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A PACKAGE ARBOR FOR SUPPORTING A CORE ADAPTED TO HAVE YARN WOUND THEREON COMPRISING, A SUPPORT MEMBER ARRANGED TO RECEIVE SAID CORE, A FIXED SHAFT, BEARING MEANS FOR MOUNTING SAID SUPPORT MEMBER ON SAID SHAFT FOR ROTATION, AND MEANS OPERABLE IN RESPONSE TO ROTATION OF SAID SUPPORT MEMBER FOR ROCKING SAID MEMBER ECCENTRICALLY RELATIVE TO SAID SHAFT. 